ROBERTO MANCINI has warned Mario Balotelli he could be as good as Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo one day – if he doesn’t blow it.

Ronaldo returns to Manchester tonight for the first time since quitting United in 2009 and Mancini says Balotelli could emulate the Portugal international if he knuckles down at City.

Mancini has been a fan of his Italian compatriot since handing him his Inter Milan debut at 17 and feels the striker has all the attributes to make it to the very top.

But he claims Balotelli, who is struggling to recover from a back injury, could throw away this golden chance if he does to not change his attitude.

Mancini axed the forward from his squad for the win over Tottenham 10 days ago because he was not happy with him.

The volatile pair have almost rowed as often as Balotelli has scored for City and Mancini says he has to realise football must come first. He has given Balotelli some leeway because he has delivered on the pitch for City and his scoring streak 12 months ago made up for Carlos Tevez going AWOL.

But he is not keeping his side of the bargain this season and has slipped to fourth in Mancini’s pecking order of strikers with just two goals in 13 appearances.

He’s at a crossroads in his City career and Mancini’s public rebuke is his latest attempt to get him to focus on his football.

The City manager clearly finds Balotelli frustrating and when asked yesterday how hard it is working with him, he replied half joking: “Good question! I can answer you tomorrow.

“No, Mario outside the pitch is a fantastic guy. Sometimes he doesn’t understand what your job is and how his job is important for his life, but I hope he can understand this quickly.

“Now he is 22 but life can go quickly and I hope he can improve everything because as a player he could be like Cristiano and Lionel Messi.

“He could do this if he understands that to be like them you should work hard, your mind should be always on your job, not on the other things that are not important.

“I’m very sorry for him for this. He has everything to be one of the best players in the world.

“It’s not easy to work with him every day because if you are a manager, you should manage 22 players. This is not easy sometimes, but I hope he can change his mind.”